Jeremy Alexander at London Road - The Guardian
Charlton have struggled since the departure of Alan Curbishley in 2006 but they are ready to put their recent toils behind them
"Doing a Charlton" has fallen into abeyance. For a while it was the aspiration of every club entering the Premier League. Then, in May 2006, Alan Curbishley left, having settled the club comfortably in the top tier for six years between seventh and 14th places, and 12 months and three managers later Charlton were relegated. In another two years they were in League One. Doing a Charlton had lost its cachet.
That may be about to change again. Peterborough are not quite Manchester City or Everton, whom Charlton beat and drew with in November 2006, but they were fourth in the table to Charlton's fifth on Saturday morning and were rolled over 5-1 at home. Not for nothing is a sword at the heart of the Addicks' crest.
Before the game Peterborough topped the charts in "goals against" as well as "for" in the division. But Charlton, arriving on a tight-lipped run, departed in smiles. "To win so convincingly away, obviously you never expect that, but we are pleased," said their manager, Phil Parkinson. His feet have never knowingly left the ground.
In retrospect the result was a formality. In defence The Posh were tosh and Charlton, never pausing on the break, when so often opportunities are lost, tore them apart with the zippy, slippy play of Paul Benson and Lee Martin, an early substitute for Joe Anyinsah. Those front two were helped by the acute promptings of Therry Racon and José Semedo and when, after three half-time substitutions, Peterborough responded with a degree of purpose and a free-kick goal, Christian Dailly and Gary Doherty brought the experience of 67 years to bear in central defence.
Charlton had been four up after 38 minutes, which is exactly what Cardiff City were last season here before drawing 4-4. Their fans are not yet so sure of the current team as to rest easy at any score but, having passed seven hours in all games without conceding, Charlton were annoyed to see the spell broken, betraying a steely new mentality. Martin's second goal, to go with two from Johnnie Jackson and one from Racon, ensured they scored five away from home in the league for the first time since a 5-2 win at Grimsby in 1999.
Peterborough's manager, Gary Johnson, did not mince words afterwards. "There is going to be a lot of soul-searching and some of the lads have big decisions to make over whether they want to be part of what we are trying to achieve," he said.
There are no such doubts with Charlton. Parachute payments are history; TV money is a tenth of the £6m it was even in the Championship; 20 players left in the summer (plus Jonjo Shelvey to Liverpool in April for £1.7m from their prized academy before they got much out of him) and only 12 came in. Crowds, though impressive for League One, are more than 10,000 short of those they had in the Premier League, so cloth is being cut according to reduced means. But smaller squads have a virtue in core spirit that Manchester City may not understand. Core spirit is strong.
Richard Murray, who became chairman in 1995, admitted in his last annual report to boardroom mistakes, markedly in managerial appointments after Curbishley's departure. Parkinson, given the job after eight games as caretaker without a win, does not seem to have been one of them. There is a feeling now, born of stability, that the club is ready to go forward. They have known worse than League One – in March 1984 they were within 25 minutes of liquidation – but nothing as bad as the spectre of Peter Ridsdale, of Leeds and Cardiff notoriety, reportedly sniffing around The Valley. Murray was quick to dismiss the story, as did Ridsdale, and deny other takeover talk while admitting he is "open to investment or even a buy- out if it is in the club's best interests".
Those best interests will be served in the short term by promotion. Only Brighton, who inflicted a wake-up 4-0 defeat last month, are above them. Murray believes Charlton should be "a top Championship team". Johnson thought "the two teams looked a couple of leagues apart", which would put Charlton back in the top tier were it not for his own side's poverty.
The Valley is one of the best old-style grounds in the country since Charlton spent £37m on it while lodging at Selhurst and Upton Parks for eight years. In 2004 they gained permission to extend the East Stand, pushing total capacity to 40,000; that is on hold. The 2012 Olympics have produced regeneration around Greenwich that will enhance their catchment potential. And last month Charlton reiterated full commitment to their academy.
Ultimately attraction of investment is related to quality of performance and vice versa. It is a chicken-and-egg situation. Such a victory is a serious egg. They will not be counting them but doing a Charlton may soon be worthwhile again.
Charlton Lee Martin is mobbed by his team-mates after scoring Charlton's fourth goal in their 5-1 win against Peterborough.
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Comments
Well done Mr Alexander.
indeed.
What a feelgood piece. Well spotted Henry!
Henry's post led me to read a collection of Mr Alexanders pieces from around the lower leagues.
He has a talent of reporting the facts, researching the stats, adding a good dollop of humour (see the Hull report below) and seems to connect to the fans view - I assume he goes for a pre match drink and asks real fans whats going on.
He is excellent at evoking what it is to be a fan at plaxes like Underhill
''There is a charm to the game in the lower regions, an intimacy and sense of belonging long lost at Old Trafford. Bartlett, if he was not consoled by Paul Robinson, can console himself that his blooper was seen by only 225 Hereford followers, not a whole nation on TV. After the finish another game was taking place in the drizzle on an adjacent pitch – a level playing field – with four Barnet fathers and sons from six upwards emulating men they had been almost in touching distance of 15 minutes before. It was pure fun, dreaming for some and no place for mothers-in-law.''
On the Hull Portsmouth game
''Dowie was an impact player, a brave centre-forward who broke 25 noses, all of them his own. With Phil Brown released on tanning leave after one win in 16 league games he has been engaged as an impact manager even if "freelance managerial consultant" is hardly an impact title. Nor did it help that Adam Pearson, Hull's chairman, let on that he saw the appointment question as multiple-choice, Dowie being fifth.''
Really nice to see a piece that is factually correct and not biased!
and good to see Benno sliding himself away from the celebrations lol
Best piece I've read from a paper for a long time.
We normally don't get more than a couple of lines in the national press these days, in fact it's not even worth the bother to read reports online.
And to think there are a few people on here who knock The Guardian - to be honest, it's be dumbed downn ever since it went to a more tabloid look - most articles read like a blog penned by a 6th form college student. Saying that it's still the my most visited website - love it, but I fookin hate it sometimes. But that's not taking anything away from the above article; by far the best piece I've read about us in a long while.
Love it
Laughable!
I spoke to Jeremy earlier and passed on the compliments to him. I just managed to catch him before he was about to cycle into the Guardian to start work. He's chuffed that people thought it was a good read. I believe he will take a look at Charlton Life when he gets into work to see what people have had to say.
Is he charlton? if not who does he support? Great article have tweeted it.